Steel-smelting furnace.



SIEEL SMELIING FURNACE. APPuATLQNQPnEp Dsc. 22. |911. RENEwED gAN. 21. 1919.

Patented Feb. 2

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W. G. PERKINS W. H. FITCH.

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APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22.1911. RENEWBD JAN. 21. 1919.

Patnted. Feb. 25, 1919.

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` 5% L l X llil Lg A l wg QLLLLL C :LC LLL [lLLLl 1 LLLLQE I 1: l: [l E' Il l- 1 ////////f///////////////////////// l 1 Z j 1 1N M g Y l N1 gnvewcow j 'l and manufacture of y liquid orl other gaseous ,fuels are introduced WALTER G. PERKINS, 0F SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNA., AND WILL H. FTGH, @E PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVIA.

. STEEL-SMELTING FUBNACE.

menace.

Specification of Letters Patent. Ptggmtd EQU QLQITL Application med December 22, 1917, Serial No. 208,465. Renewedr'anuary 21, 1919. Serial No, 272,353.

ToaZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WALTER GEORGE PER- KiNs, a subject of the King of England, and WILLIAM HENRY FITCH, a citizen of the United States, residin respectivelyT at Sanl Francisco and Pitts urgh, in the counties of San Francisco and Allegheny and States of California and Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steel-Smelting Furnaces; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and ,exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledI in the art to which it appertains to Inakel and use zthe same reference being had to the accompanying `drawings,and to the letters and figures- .of referenceumarked thereon, which form a `part of this specification. f

This invention relatesto new .and useful improvements in furnaces used in the ant steel and in Ywhich 'into an openf hearth reversing or end over 'endytype 'of .regenerator furnace, and in `which are provided slag pockets and chambers. for the precipitation of the `dustf10m the wastefumes before entering the checkerwork ofthe re In the manu acture of steel.. as practised -up to" the .gas as a presenttime, natural or producer with the end over end regenerator furnace c, has been possible rand' practicable because",

Aneither the gas lor the charge containing' I .and theconstruction ofthe checker-work(- has always been under or belowl the hearth level, and waste gas have valways gone through thecheeker o a down cast. This 4 materials in the form of suspended matter,

such as dust, wouldblock 'the checkers and' stopthe liiow ofgas going down.- At thepresent time suchjconditions have arisen where thesupply .of natural gas is becoming exhausted and producer gas is not'looked" upon with favor, because of the largeheat unit losses in the' conversionofcoal fro produce a gas, also the lossi of heat by lradiation, due to conveying gas from the gas producer tothe furnace.

fuel has been usedn` connection l The development of pulverized fuel airing yhas become generally recognized as the future method of using fuel and it is beyond ,a doubt that if it is possible to inject into the furnace vdirect coal in a finely divided bustible matter will be carried through the furnace .with the. fumes and deposited partly in the slag pockets and partly in the: top of the down cast checker. Varioustypes of checker-work have been used to .overcome this diliculty,'but it va lpears that the principle of a down cast chec er will always have thedisadvantage of clogging, ifY

the sizes.' of the openings are 'such as to givef any efficiency in the' checker itself for regenerativepurposes. A v y The present invention consists inthe provision of means for taking in fuel from the bottom of the' regenerator instead of the top, as is the common practice, so lthat all waste gases may have an up cast instead of 'av down cast, so that when the dust `gasses into the regenerator chamber it `Wiil e precipitated and be prevented from clogi .ging the chamber vresulting from the up cast current, while the cold air is permitted to'A enter thefchamber from 4the top of the regeneratorand pass to the lfurnace in exactly the reverse from that taken by waste gases. f

' VAnother featureof the present invention Jconsists in the provision of means whereby -portions of the rows of the checker-work .are so constructed and arranged as to be independent of other tiers of the checkerwork, so that such portions as may be'sub- Vjected to intense heat may be removed and replaced bytemporarily closing the fuelA supply from the furnace without interference with the super-structure of the checkerwork.

`The present invention consists of various detalls of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts which will be herein- A afterfully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and then specically delined in the appended claims.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification and in which:

Figure 1 is a pla-n view of our improved steel smelting furnace, parts being in section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 2..

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing in elevation the arrangement of the checker-work with removable tier, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by numerals:

1 designates a furnace with a dished bottom 2 and with which furnace passageways 3 and 4 communicate at points opposite each other. -The passageway 3 communicates with a slag pocket 3", while the passageway 4 communicates with a slag pocket 4", and the slag pocket 3X communicates with a port 5 leading to the dust chamber 6, and which latter communicates through a passageway 7 with the interior of the regenerator chamber 8 having a checker-work 9 therein. A passageway 19 leads from the upper portion of the regenerator chamber 8 and communicates with a duct 20 which leads to la passageway 21. The latter in turn communicates with the chimney 22.

The passageway 4 which communicates with the furnace 1 opposite the passageway 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, communicates with the slag pocket 4v which in turn communicates with the interior of the dust chamber 6 through the port 5, and leading from the lower portion of the chamber 6 is a port 7 communicating with the lower portion of the regenerator chamber 8. Leading from the upper portion of the regenerator chamber 8 is a passageway 19 communicating with a duct 20 which in turn leads to and communicates with the common passagewayv 21. A valve 26 is pivotally mounted upon a post 27 and is adapted to swing in order to close one or the other of the passageways 20 or 21 accordingly as itmay be desired to direct into or out of operative relation, one or the other of the reversing or end over end type of regenerative furnaces, the present apparatus being so arranged as to alternately use the two regenerators in order to materially increase the efficiency of the apparatus.

Nozzles 24 and 24 communicate respectively with the passageways 3 and 4 and through which liquid or gaseous fuels areY introduced into the furnace. In order to permit live air to enter the apparatus to be pre-heated before being co1mnii icd with the gaseous fuel, valved openings 13 and 1S' are placed respectively in the walls of the passageways 20 and 21, as Shown clearly in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Positioned underneath the slag pocket 3X is a truck 25, and underneath the slag pocket 4X is a similar truck 25 provided for the purpose of conveying away Ithe slag from the pockets.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that the construction of our apparatusis such that means is provided for removing certain tiers of the checker-work without interference with the superimposed tiers thereof when it becomes necessary, owing to the extreme high temperature that the lower tiers are subjected to in the operation of the apparatus, and in which figures, it will be noted, two series of arches designated respectively by numerals 10 and 11, are provided which connect the side walls with a central wall 12, the tiers 9 of the checker-work being supported by the upper arches 10 independent of thel tiers 13 which are supported by the arches 11. The wall of the regenerator chamber is provided with an' opening 15 laid". up with removable brick, affording means whereby access may be had between the two tiers of arches for the purpose of removing the brick 13 and replacing the same with other brick without interfering with the tiers of brick which are supported by the arches 10.

In operation, air entering the opening regulated by the valve 18 in the wall of the passageway 20 (it being noted that the course of air in the drawings is indicated by the dotted arrows), will pass through the checker-work of the regenerator 8 and become preheated, as well as cooling the checker-work by the absorption of its heat, and thence will pass through the port 7 into the dust chamber 6, through the latter and the assageway 5 into the bottom of the slag poc et 3*. and thence into the passage way 3, where 1t commingles with the incoming pulverized or gaseous fuel introduced into the furnace, through the nozzle 24, pref-l erably under a slight pressure. Thegaseous fumes passing in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings operation in the manner described .for any suitable length of time and it is desired to reverse conditions and permit the regenerator on the other side of the apparatus to be in' operation, the valve 26 is thrown so as to close the passageway 20". In this adjustment of the apparatus cold air enters through the opening regulated by the valve 18', in the roof of the regenerator chamber 8, the valve 18 ir'the other regenerator being closed as is also the' nozzle 24 and the nozzle 24 is opened. Air passes down "through the checker-work 9., becoming pre-heated as it passes through the port 7, dust chamber 6', port 5 into the slag pocket 4* and thence through passageway 4 into the furnace 1.

What we claim to be new is:

l. A method of manufacturing steel, con.

sisting in introducing a gaseous fuel commingled with pre-heated air .into a regenerative furnace, the waste gases being expanded afterleaving the furnace chamber` and thence givenan up-cast through the checker-work of. a regenerator.`

2. A method of manufacturing steel, consisting in introducing for alternate periods a gaseous fuel commingled with pre-heated air into al regenerative furnace, the waste gases being expanded after leaving the furnace chamber and thence given an up-cast through the checker-work of a regenerator.

3. A method of manufacturing steel, consisting in introducing al gaseous fuel com,- mingled with pre-heated air into a regenerative furnace, the waste gases being expanded after leaving the furnace chamber and thence given an up-cast through the checker-work of a regenerator, the combustion of the gaseous fuel being promoted by air pre-heated passing down through the Achecker-work before entering into the rean up-ca'st through the checker-work of a A regenerator. v

5. An apparatus for the manufacture of steel, comprising a furnace' with a slag pocket communicating with each end thereof, precipitating chambers each having a passageway leading from and communi-h eating with a slag pocket, regenerators, each communicating below its checker-work with an adjacent precipitating chamber, each regenerator having an outlet in its upper portion. l

6. An apparatus for the manufacture of steel, comprising-"a furnace with a slag pocket communicatin with each end thereof, precipitating c ambers each having a passageway leading from and 'commubranching passageway communicating with. v

each regeneratornear its upper portion, and a valve mounted within the branching passageway, the latterbeing provided with air inlets. 4

In testimony whereof we hereunto aiiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.`

WALTER G. PERKINS. l WILLIAM H. FITCH. lVitnesse's.: i

A. L. Houma, v FRANKLIN H. HoUGH. 

